Strangers
by beardaughter
Summary: Jughead Jones and Rayna Jackson. The two had practically been inseparable since fourth grade. They had gone through thick and thin, health and sickness, good and bad. They were best friends for life. But then, over the summer leading to sophomore year came, and things changed. With the murder of Jason Blossom floating up the surface, things get more complicated and mysterious.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The town of Riverdale was a quiet town. A calm town. Where everybody knew everybody. Therefor, secrets were hard to be kept between the town folk.

But one girl, in the late summer of 2009, moved into town unexpected. She was different from the rest. Much darker, mysterious and unexpected. Her dark hair and eyes contrasted against her light skin. She was nothing like the rest of Riverdale had ever seen before. She was Rayna Jackson.

Even her attitude was different. While every other kids her age at least tried to act with kindness, the little new girl always blurted out the truth. She didn't care either, except if someone became hurt by her words. She just knew that her father had always told her to be truthful, that nothing good could come out of lying.

This is mainly why she quickly became friends with a few of the kids her age, such as Archie Andrews. And friendship with Archie almost inevitably meant friendship with Forsythe 'Jughead' Jones the Third.

The three became best friends. The three amigos. The three musketeers. They were inseparable.

But then summer leading to sophomore year came, and the three best friends, became two. Archie had ditched on his best friends on July fourth for unknown reasons, making Jughead take space from the ginger and bringing Rayna with him.

Although, the two should've probably thanked Archie. After all, after his little betrayal, the two became closer than ever.

* * *

 _ **I've always liked the Archie comics and I remember kinda falling in love with the infamous Forsythe Pendleton Jughead Jones the Third (aka the longest names in the history). So, since CW decided to make a series of it (with my all time childhood crush playing Jug), I got waaay too excited and just KNEW I had to make a fic of it.**_

 _ **All rights for the characters and plot goes to the writers and producers of the show Riverdale. I, however, only own Rayna Jackson and other OC characters that shows up, along with their plots.**_


	2. The River's Edge

" **You two are such babies."**

* * *

 _Our story is about a town, a small town, and the people who live in the town. From a distance, it presents itself like so many other small towns all over the world…_

 _Safe._

 _Decent._

 _Innocent._

 _Get closer, though, and you start seeing the shadows underneath._

 _The name of our town is Riverdale._

 _And our story begins, I guess, with what the Blossom twins did this summer._

 _On the Fourth of July, just after dawn, Jason and Cheryl Blossom drove out to Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride._

 _The next thing we know happened for sure is that Dilton Doiley, who was leading Riverdale's Boy Scout Troop on a bird watching expedition, came upon Cheryl by the river's edge._

 _Riverdale Police dragged Sweetwater River for Jason's body, but never found it._

 _So a week later, the Blossom family buried an empty casket and Jason's death was ruled an accident, as the story that Cheryl told made the rounds. That Cheryl dropped a glove in the water, and Jason reached down to get it, and accidentally tipped the boat, and panicked, and drowned._

 _As for us, we were still talking about the "July Fourth tragedy" on the last day of summer vacation, when a new mystery rolled into town._

* * *

It was a quiet morning. So quiet. It was all like the calm before the storm.

The storm, being a big brother with a thing for waking up his poor little sister with a scare.

"Ray!" the brother called out from outside the door, but the sister inside didn't answer. She was hoping for a few more moments in bed, where she didn't have to worry about anything, such as the living hell she had to go to. Of course, her smart brother somehow saw through this as he threw her bedroom door open, throwing something at her half sleeping form while yelling at the top of his lungs. "School! Now!"

"I'm up, I'm up," the girl groaned into the thing the brother had thrown at her head. She slowly sat up, making the thing slide of her face and fall to her lap. She saw then that it was her backpack. "Jesus, Jer…" she yawned.

Her brother chuckled as he stood still by her doorway. "Hey, you can't be late for you first day," he shrugged.

"What's that?" Rayna asked. "Some kind of rule now?"

"Always has been," Jeremy chuckled as he began turning away from her room. "Get dressed. I'll drive you to the park to meet Jug," he said as he walked away.

"Thanks," Rayna muttered quietly at him as she sat at the edge of her bed.

She stared down at her empty backpack that laid by her side, just wishing it would pack all her school essentials itself. But of course, it was an inanimate object, so her wish would unfortunately never come true.

Sighing, Rayna got up from her bed and began to get ready for her first day as a sophomore.

* * *

Jeremy had indeed driven Rayna to the park, where she was always scheduled to meet her best friend, Forsythe Pendleton 'Jughead' Jones the Third. Rayna's brother was happy to drive her to see her best friend so they could, as per usual, walk to school together.

Jeremy was always the kind one out of the two of the. Rayna tried to be, but the truth or some sarcastic comments always came out of her before any kind words.

Just take this morning for an example: She could've easily driven herself to the park and possibly pick up Jughead and drive them both to the school, but her kind big brother insisted on taking her.

As Rayna jumped out of her brother's patrol car, she immediately spotted her raven haired, beanie wearing friend. She skipped over and jumped up on Jughead's back, which he had grown accustomed to as he immediately took a hold on Rayna's thighs so she wouldn't fall.

He chuckled as he began to walk while carrying the girl. "Jesus, Ray," Jughead said. "You'll never stop doing that, will you?" he asked in amusement.

Rayna ignored his question and only gave it a roll of her eyes before she leaned over so she could see part of Jughead's face. "You super excited to get back to the lovely hell we call high school?" she asked him sarcastically with the most cheery voice she could muster.

This earned another one of Jughead famous half hearted smiles. "Always am," he said as he glanced over to her.

Rayna gave him a full on smile back before she jumped off his back and skipped to walk by his side. "You've gotten further on your book?" she asked as a put her hands in her pockets.

Jughead had of course told her how he had taken Jason Blossom's disappearance, possibly death, to advantage and started writing about it. He had always liked writing, and Rayna had always liked reading. It was rather perfect. Jughead wouldn't let her read his works though, at least not until they were finished. Rayna always tortured him though into letting her read on beforehand, but he had yet to let her read his latest one.

"No," Jughead said as they kept walking slowly. They had no hurry to get to school anyways. The first day was a lazy one either way. "Still working on the first chapter."

"Y'know, if you let me read it, I could give you some feedback," Rayna attempted with a sickly sweet smile Jughead's way.

Jughead turned to Rayna with one of his famous little bitch face. "Nice try, Ray."

"Oh, c'mon!" the black haired girl yelled out as she threw her arms up in the air as a grand gesture. "I mean, _why_ can't I read it? Give me _one_ good reason," Rayna demanded as her arms dropped back to her side.

Jughead gave her a half hearted smirk. "Maybe one day."

"Man, you're impossible…"

* * *

"Remind me why we are here, again?" Jughead asked the black haired, pierced girl next to him as they sat down at the top bleacher.

It was time for the assembly, a sort of announcement the school had every year. Most of the time it was to go through the rules of school, or what was new, and sometimes it was something the Barbies of the school to take the spotlight in a very unnecessary announcement.

Such like Cheryl was going to do.

"It's the yearly assembly, dumbnut," Rayna answered her best friend as she looked at him with her lips pursed in fake irritation. "We always have it. Plus, the wicked bitch of Riverdale wants to speak out," she muttered and wiggled in her seat with her arms crossed.

"Great," Jughead muttered back. He bent down and started to go through his bag, until he finally fished out his laptop.

Rayna rolled her eyes at the sight of it. "Do you carry that around you everywhere now?" she asked him jokingly as he settled it on his lap and began to log in.

Jughead shrugged as he began to type something on it. "I don't wanna miss anything."

Rayna chuckled at that and shook her head as she began to listen to what the Principal was saying by the podium. "You're such a nerd," she said quietly and could feel Jug's glare at her profile.

"-And now, Cheryl Blossom would like to have a word, after a moment of silence for her dear brother."

"More like _dead_ brother," Rayna whispered. A student, whose name Rayna did not know, turned to her with an irritated look and shushed her for her comment. Rayna glared back at the student. " _Ssh_ yourself!" she hissed back, showing her teeth. The student's eyes grew wide and she turned back to watch Cheryl get up on the podium.

Jughead silently chuckled next to Rayna. "I think you scared her," he whispered to her without looking up from his computer.

"Good."

"Thank you for that moment of silence," Cheryl Blossom began her speech. She stood high on her heels with a black, laced veil over her forehead. Despite the situation, she held her head high and proud as she spoke to the school's residents. "Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally-"

"Lucky?" Rayna asked herself.

"Ray," Jughead warned by her side with an equally warning gaze.

Rayna shrugged at him with her eyebrows raised. "What?"

"Each and everyone of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother. He was, and always will be, my soulmate-"

"Sounds like incest to me," Rayna commented in a whisper, finally earning a small snicker from her best friend, which she joined into.

"So I speak with the confidence only a twin could have," Cheryl continued to speak as the rest of the gym kept eerily quiet. "Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I've asked the school board not to cancel the back to school semi-formal-" The gym erupted in cheers, which both Rayna and Jughead rolled their eyes at. "But rather to see it as a way to heal, collectively-"

Rayna glanced at Jughead and saw that his attention wasn't at his computer anymore, and not at the redhead at the podium, but rather another redhead sitting a few rows down from them with his football jacket on.

She snorted at her best friend's childishness. "You're staring," she whispered to Jughead in mocking as she leaned towards him a bit.

Jughead quickly took his gaze off of their former best friend and focused back on the screen, not even sparing Rayna a glance. "Shut up."

Rayna smirked knowingly at him before she focused back on Cheryl.

"-And celebrate my brother's too, too short life on this mortal coil. Thank you all." She gave a bow with her head and a smile before she strutted off the stage.

Jughead quickly packed his computer into his bag again and stood up, pulling Rayna with him. He practically dragged her out of the gym before anyone else even had thought of leaving.

They were pretty good at avoiding people.

* * *

Jughead had dragged Rayna all the way to her class, which was History, something the two didn't have together. After that, he practically disappeared. Since it was a new school year and all Rayna didn't know her best friend's schedule yet, which meant she had no idea where he was.

So, in search for her best friend, she ended up by the door at the gym.

Seeing the new girl and Betty Cooper kissing.

Rayna just couldn't help the little snickers that escaped her as she crouched down so she would not be noticed. She was not in the mood to be at the receiving end of Cheryl Blossom's wrath.

"Check your sell-by date, ladies," Cheryl spoke up as soon as the two girls pulled back from each other, the new girl as cool as before and Betty flustered and shocked. Rayna giggled again, but the Blossom twin didn't seem to see the humor of it as the black haired girl did. "Faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994. So let's see if you do better with the interview portion of your audition." She snapped her head towards Betty, which Rayna frowned at. "Betty, how's your sister doing?"

Betty glanced nervously at the new girl before she looked back to Cheryl. "Um, Polly's fine, thanks for asking," she said slowly and cautiously.

Cheryl then snapped her gaze towards the new girl. "Veronica, has Betty told you about her sister yet?"

"Uh, no," the new girl, Veronica, said confusedly as she glanced at Betty.

Cheryl looked at Betty again. "Go ahead, Betty," she said. "Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother."

Betty glanced up from her gaze at the floor to Veronica. "Polly and Jason dated," she stated quietly.

Cheryl scoffed from her seat on the 'throne'. "I wouldn't say 'dated'."

"It didn't end well…"

"In fact," Cheryl began as she kept glaring at the blonde. "Jason's probably why your sister had a nervous breakdown and now lives in a group home, isn't it?"

Rayna frowned at that. She had of course heard the stories about Jason and Polly, and that Polly had mysteriously disappeared somewhere while her parents had stated that she had gone crazy. Rayna didn't believe that, though. She knew Polly. She wasn't crazy.

"That's what my parents think," Betty said just as quietly as she had done during the whole 'interview'. Rayna really wanted to go up and hug her former friend, but thought against it, knowing that Cheryl would probably bury her heel in Rayna's back if she made her presence known.

"What do you have to say about that, Betty?" the redhead taunted. "Go ahead, the floor is yours." As she spoke further, Betty's hands curling up into tight fits, and Rayna's eyebrows raised. She had taught her that, to focus your anger onto something else, like how hard you can curl your fists so you don't start breaking down in front of everyone. "Whatever you've been dying to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly, unleash it. Destroy me. Tear me a new one. Rip me to shreds. Annihilate me."

"I just…" Betty breathed out.

"Finally," Cheryl sighed and relaxed back on the chair.

Betty released her fits, and small droplets of blood fell to the floor from her hands. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Jason. I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through."

Cheryl stared at her for a long time. "Right…" she muttered dryly before she turned to look at the new girl. "Veronica, welcome to the River Vixens." Rayna sighed and began to move out. "Betty, better luck next time."

"Wait, what?" the voice of the new girl boomed through the gym, and Rayna stopped to turn back to continue to watch. "Why? Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?" she asked, and Rayna smirked. She hadn't even spoken to this girl, and she already liked her.

"I need girls with fire on my squad," Cheryl argued.

"I know what you need, Cheryl, because I know who you are," Veronica began. "You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof. That certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning." Veronica paused as if she just came up with something. With a small smirk, she slowly began to walk towards where Cheryl and two other girls sat. "Or… Maybe that reckoning is now. And maybe, that reckoning… Is me." She stopped walking and smiled brightly at the redhead, who was glaring daggers at the raven haired girl. "Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one, you take us both. You wanted fire? Sorry, Cherrybombshell, my specialty is ice."

* * *

" _Dude_!" Rayna yelled out as a slapped Jughead's shoulder.

After the whole scene in the gym she was way too excited and happy, and she just needed to tell someone. Someone like her best friend. No one ever back-talked Cheryl Blossom, except for Rayna on her very good days. Seeing the new girl dragging her ass just made the pierced girl oddly excited.

Jughead turned his gaze away from the inside of his locker and looked to his best friend with his brows close together. "What?"

Rayna beamed giddily at him as she bounced up and down on the spot, something Jughead looked oddly at. "You missed a great try-out," she told him, the smile not leaving her face.

"You tried out for cheerleading?" Jughead asked confusedly as he got out a book from his locker and then closed it. "How cliché do you want to be, exactly?" he asked jokingly as he adjusted his bag strap on his shoulder, before the two began to walk out of the school side by side.

"Shut up. I didn't try, just wanted to watch the show," Rayna smirked knowingly at him.

Jughead fake grimaced as he looked at her. "Wow. You're getting a bit comfortable with your sexuality," he joked.

Rayna nudged him with her elbow as they walked. "I've always been comfortable," she winked with a smirk.

Jughead rolled his eyes with another one of his half-smirks. "Whatever. What happened?"

"Well, the new girl and Betty tried out, they even kissed-"

"Woah," Jughead interrupted and halted in his steps, looking at Rayna with his confused, narrowed stare. "What?"

"Don't interrupt the story, Jones," Rayna told him with her accusing finger pointing at him. He gave her his best bitch-face, which Rayna only smiled innocently to before she began walking again. Jughead sighed behind her before he came into step with her again. "Anyways, Cheryl basically bitched out on them like no tomorrow and the new girl kinda kicked her ass, verbally, of course," Rayna explained, before she got in the zone and looked dreamily into space as she remembered Veronica's speech. "So many great quotes…" Jughead rolled his eyes at his best friend. "I should use some of them."

"And copy her?" Jughead asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't call it copying…" Rayna trailed off and Jughead scoffed beside her. She looked at him with one of her most innocent smiles, and judging by the look he gave her, he probably knew what she was going to ask. "Anything new on the book?"

"You're getting way too obsessed with it," he spoke immediately.

"I'll stop if you let me read it."

Jughead looked to his feet and stopped as he sighed. Rayna stopped walking right in front of him. He looked up at her again. "Okay, let's make a deal," he began, and Rayna started to smile at him. "When the first chapter's done, you get to read it-" Rayna smiled happily, but Jughead pointed at her with a serious look " _-but_ , you may _not_ criticize it."

She pouted at him, but thought it through. It was better than to not read it. So Rayna just shrugged and agreed. "It's a deal, Jones." Jughead gave a nod and began walking again. Rayna, however, stopped him by grabbing his arm. He looked at her, then her hand, then back at her again. She rolled her eyes before she released his arm. "I was just thinking about the dance," Rayna began saying.

"What about it?" Jughead questioned suspiciously as he crossed his arms.

Rayna smirked. "You wanna skip it and have a movie marathon at my house?" she asked and watched as Jughead began to smirk as well. "We can pick up some burgers from Pop's." Right then and there Rayna knew she had him. There was one true way to persuade Jughead, and that was food and movies.

"Totally," he said. "It's a date."

Rayna scoffed before she linked her arm with his. "Like you could score one with me."

Jughead began silently laughing at her comment, which just made Rayna laugh more as they walked out of school and on to Rayna's place.

* * *

The diner of Chocklit Shoppe was rather quiet. It had been a calm evening since most teenager that usually goes to the diner were busy dancing their heart outs at the school dance. Practically everyone was at the dance.

Except for two individuals, of course.

"Stop that," Jughead complained for the fifth time as a rolled up paper ball came flying next his his head.

Next to him sat Rayna, who smirked as she prepared another paper ball to toss at him. "Or what?" she asked as she finished it, put it in the straw and shot it at her best friend, making it land right under his eye.

Jughead abandoned his laptop and his novel as he turned to Rayna with a warning stare. It only made Rayna smirk wider as she reached forward and snatched a fry off his plate, which only annoyed Jughead further.

"Rayna," he warned as the girl just stared up at him with an innocent look. "I swear to God, I'll-"

He completely stopped as the two heard the bell go off right by the door. The two best friends looked up to see Archie step into the diner. He gave the two a small glance before he went up to the counter. Jughead scoffed next to Rayna and reached over for his laptop again to continue writing and ignore the red headed boy that stood a few feet away from them, asking Pop about Betty.

Rayna, however, rolled her eyes as she watched the small exchange between the boys. "You two are such babies," she commented quietly as she took another fry from Jughead's plate, which made the beanie wearing boy glare at her.

As the two were busy having a staring contest, Archie decided to walk up to their booth. "Hey," he said quietly, making the residence of the table look up at him with an expectant look, urging him to speak. "Uh, can I sit?" he asked the two nervously, a bit scared of rejection.

"If you want," Jughead said as he nodded towards the seat across from him and Rayna.

Archie gave his former friend a small smile before he slided into the seat. He watched as Jughead went back to writing on his laptop and Rayna continue to eat the boy's food. He looked back at the raven haired boy and curiosity took over him. "What are you working on?" he asked.

"My novel," Jughead answered shortly.

Rayna rolled her eyes again, something she was known to be doing, before she turned to lightly smile at Archie. "His new one," she said kindly, which Jughead playfully glared at her for.

She knew very well that at the moment he didn't want to have anything to do with Archie, but she was too stubborn to try fix their friendship. She gave him a nudge with her elbow, silently telling him to speak.

He rolled his eyes before he looked to Archie, who had been oblivious to the whole exchange. "It's about this summer, and Jason Blossom," he explained to the ginger, which Rayna smiled proudly at him for.

"Seventeen years old and how will he be remembered?" Archie questioned as he leaned over the table, getting closer to the pair on the other side. "As captain of the water polo team?"

"The aquaholics?" Jughead scoffed.

"It'd be rather ironic if that's how he'll be remembered," Rayna commented. "Considering how he died and all."

"No," Archie sighed as he looked down at the table. "What I mean is…" He grimaced before he looked up at the pair again. "Was he doing everything he was supposed to do? Everything he wanted?" he questioned, making Jughead and Rayna share a confused look. "I mean, did he even know what that was?" he asked in general, sounding much more like he wasn't talking about Jason, but rather himself.

Rayna thought of this and furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion as she looked at her former best friend. "What're you spinning, Andrews?" she asked him.

Archie shook his head as he leaned back into the chair. "Nothing…" he sighed. "I just…" he trailed off, trying to figure out what to say to explain himself.

A silence fell over the table. The only thing that could be heard in the whole diner was the song playing softly over the speakers, Pop grunting as he cleaned a table, and Rayna's occasional munching on some fries.

Jughead, not one to stand for awkward silences, eventually looked up at Archie and again abandoned his laptop. "Coach Clayton was in here talking to Pop Tate," he began, which had the other two's attention. "Varsity?" Jughead questioned the redhead. "Does that make you, what? Mr Popular Football God now?"

"Jug…" Rayna warned him as she nudged his leg with her foot.

"No," Archie quickly, but tiredly denied Jughead's question. "In fact, I'm terrified I lost my best friend tonight," he said to the two.

Rayna looked at Jughead, who sighed before he leaned over the table to intensely look at Archie. "If you mean Betty, whatever happened, just talk to her. You know, it'd go a long way," he said, and Rayna again smiled proudly at her friend. Jughead then leaned back into the seat and crossed his arms. "Would've gone a long way with me."

Rayna's pride for him disappeared as she instead scowled at the guy. She wanted her boys to go back to how they were, when the three of them were the three musketeers, and Betty their D'artagnan. She wanted her childhood together with the two of them to come back.

Archie, however, ignored both Jughead's and Rayna's sour mood and lightly smiled at the former as he began to stand up from his seat. "Thanks, Jughead," he said before he was out the door.

Rayna, also ignoring her sour mood, turned to Jughead with a smirk and lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Look at you," she said as he looked back at her. "Giving somewhat of friendly advice."

"Shut up," Jughead told her as he turned back to his laptop once again.

"You know, you tell me that often nowadays."

"Maybe because you should shut up more."

Rayna laughed at their banter while Jughead smiled at her, the kind of smile he only reserved for her, the one which she was the only lucky one to witness. It made herself smile like she was a kid on Christmas day.

She then cleared her throat as she tore her eyes away from her friends. "Okay, what about the movie situation?" she asked as she looked at him again. "Pirates, or Marvel?" she asked with her most serious face.

Jughead stared at her with his notorious bitch face. "Do you have to ask?"

Rayna chuckles as she began to slid out of the booth. "Marvel it is," she said as she finally stood up, facing her best friend with her hands on her hips. "Superhero marathon, here we come!" Jughead silently chuckled as he tried to hide his face. Rayna just smiled. "I'll go get our orders," she said before she moved away, unaware of the beanie wearing boy's lingering gaze on her.

* * *

 _By morning, everyone would be talking, texting, and posting about it. We'd all be feeling it._

 _That the world around us had changed, maybe forever._

 _That Riverdale wasn't the same town as before._

 _That it was a town of shadows and secrets now._

* * *

The two friends had had a great night together, filled with a bunch of food, snacks, drinks, movies, and funny comments. Although, during the fifth film in their little marathon, right when Thor got his powers back and was going to fight the big machine, the two fell asleep while the movies kept playing.

They don't know how they always managed it, but somehow whenever they slept in the same bed, they woke up with their limbs tangled with each other while their whole bodies were wrapped in blankets and comforters like cocoons.

So that's exactly how Rayna's big brother, Jeremy, found them the next day when he stormed into the room.

"You two," he yelled as he threw their jackets on them as they slowly woke up. "Get up," he demands as he's halfway out the door.

Rayna, not being much of a morning person, untangled herself from Jughead and slowly sat up as she yawned. "Jer?" she questioned as she rubbed her tired eyes. "What's happening?"

Jughead rolled over so he was facing the clock. He groaned at the sight of it and relaxed back into the bed. "And why did you wake us at seven in the morning?"

"They found him," Jeremy rushed out as he struggled to get his police jacket on.

"What? Who?" Rayna asked in confusion as she stared at her brother. Even Jughead was curious as he sat up from the bed.

"They found Jason."

* * *

The three had rushed over to Sweetwater River and came there just in time for the police to get Jason's corpse from the river. Jeremy left his sister for Jughead to take care off by a nearby hill as he ran down to help the Sheriff and the rest of the deputies.

The two friends stood almost frozen as they saw the bloated, pale body of Riverdale's golden boy get dragged out of the water. Rayna even gasped as she saw the bullet wound in his forehead and brought her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, my god…" she whispered as she watched her brother help out with zipping the body bag.

Jughead glanced down at the black haired girl next to him and put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Rayna nodded slightly as she continued to watch, as if she was in some kind of daze. "Yeah, it's just…" She sighed as she finally looked away from the now covered body and instead looked at Jughead. "This whole time, I thought it was just a scheme. A prank, or some faux little story. But it's real," she whispered, almost in horror, but more in fascination. "It's actually real, Jug."

Jughead saw how much Rayna struggled with this. She didn't like the Blossom's, and neither did he, but he knew that Rayna would never wish death on anyone. Not even her worst enemy.

So, he put an arm over her shoulder and turned her away from the sight of the cops. "Hey, c'mere," he said as he finally let himself hug her, trying to ease her pain.

She hugged him back tightly and the two just stood there as the ambulance and police drove away with Jason Blossom's corpse.

* * *

 _On Monday, the autopsy on Jason's body would take place._

 _And on Tuesday, halfway through fifth period, the first arrest would be made._


	3. A Touch of Evil

**"Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world"**

* * *

 _I think many of us, maybe the entire town, had been hoping against hope that somehow Jason Blossom hadn't drowned on July 4th._

 _That we'd come to school Monday morning, and there Jason would be._

 _Or that we'd see him and Cheryl in a booth at Pop's._

 _But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact of his bloated, waterlogged body, a corpse with a bullet hole in its forehead, and terrible secrets that could only be revealed by the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel, or the telltale beating of a guilty heart._

* * *

The doors to the school opened wide and through them came the outcasts.

The proclaimed weirdos.

With other words, Rayna and Jughead.

"Another hellish day in hell," Rayna sighed as they walked through the hall, ignoring every person as they passed. It wasn't really a secret that people mostly ignored or stayed away from the two, and it wasn't really a secret that they didn't care what others did. "Wonder what will happen on this day. Any ideas?" she asked her best friend as she looked at him.

Jughead, as almost always, were frowning as they walked. "Not really," he said in monotone, something Rayna picker up on.

Out of everyone that the two had ever known, Jughead had never acted emotionless or cold against Rayna. She was the only one he was comfortable enough with to actually smile and even laugh. Seeing as he was frowning in her presence, Rayna just knew something was wrong.

"You okay?" she asked, frowning back at him.

"Yeah," Jughead lied. He wasn't okay. Not really. Not ever. His life was a mess, but he couldn't admit that to her, not to his cheery sunshine that was Rayna. He just didn't want her to worry about him. "Just that this whole town and these people are getting to me." It wasn't a complete lie. He didn't like Riverdale. Being stuck in a town where everybody judged everybody.

"Well, let's not think about that, or them," Rayna said, knowing exactly who and what her best friend was referring to. "Think happy thoughts. Like, oh! Where we're eating tonight," she said, smiling happily at the guy walking next to her.

Jughead glanced at her with a ghost of a smile. "Really?" he asked. "A kid is dead, this town is a complete mess, and that's what you want me to think about?"

"Never stopped you before," Rayna laughed. "What's that saying? Fries before anything else?"

"I think you mean fries before guys."

"What's the difference?" Rayna asked, which Jughead finally let out a small laugh to, making the black haired girl smile. "Besides, food is always a positive thought," she said. "You taught me that."

Before Jughead had even thought of a comeback or a reply, the two stopped in front of one of the lockers, right next to Archie who was one of the owners of one of the lockers.

Glancing at the two of them, Archie gave a small smile. "Hey, guys," he greeted. Rayna gave him a smile back and a two finger salute.

"Hey, do you think I can use Jason Blossom's death as an excuse to get out of PE?" Jughead asked, making the other two look at him a bit oddly. Jughead shrugged. "'Sorry, Coach, I'm just too depressed and freaked out right not to do pull-ups?'" he imitated himself as he thought over how that situation would play out.

Rayna let out an amused snort as Archie closed his locker, having an annoyed look on his face as he glared at Jughead. "Don't joke about Jason Blossom."

"What?" Jughead asked with his eyes wide. "Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world," he shrugged.

Rayna rolled her eyes and put her arm around his shoulder, having to stand on her toes to reach up. "Atleast try to be sensitive, Jug," she advised with a smirk.

Jughead turned to her and gave her a small smirk as well, although it vanished as he saw the people walking behind her. He scoffed at the sight of Reggie and Moose walking through the hall with such dominance you could taste the testosterone in the air. "Look," he said, and his two friends turned to watch the same thing as he was. "It's the rich kids from The Goonies," he said sarcastically, earning another snort from Rayna. They continued to watch as the jocks walked before Jughead rolled his eyes and gently grabbed Rayna's arm. "Alright, we're out," he said and the two began walking.

Unfortunately, the way they had to go meant that they had to pass the jocks, something they both dreaded. They had always had this silent war with the jocks, which was pretty obvious since they were the outcasts of the school.

As they passed the jocks, Reggie of course had to pick on them, so he choose to taunt Jughead while shoving him into the nearest locker. "Watch it, Wednesday Addams," he laughed as his friends joined in on his laughter.

Rayna turned and glared at Reggie. "Run along, Tommy Ross," she said back. She wanted to punch him. Kick him. Possibly stab him. Although she didn't get that far, since Jughead had to physically hold her back.

Reggie just laughed at her comment. "Aw. Is the Black Dahlia pissed now?" he asked with a fake pout.

Rayna glared with a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was that meant to offend me? 'Cause the only thing offending me right now is how close your ugly mug is," she hissed as she kept fighting Jughead's grip.

How could a guy so skinny be able to hold an angry girl like Rayna?

 _Does he work out?_

Jughead successfully dragged Rayna away before she could start a fight, much to the girl's disappointment. She could never say no to a good fight. She blamed it to come from her mom's side of the family.

Eventually Jughead reached their destination and let go of the black haired girl in his arms. She quickly turned to glare at him. "I had it back there," she complain. "I had him!"

"I know you did," Jughead deadpanned. "I just figured you plus fighting equals suspension. And neither of us wants that for you, right?"

He had a good point.

Rayna sighed and rolled her eyes before she turned to see that he had dragged her all the way to her class. How he knew that she had Math, she could not remember, but he did and she was thankful he had brought her there.

She looked at her best friend again with a small smile. "I'll see you in bio?" she asked with hopefulness.

Jughead smiled back to her and nodded. Rayna gave him another smile before she went into class, two minutes before it started. Jughead watched her for a second, before he shook his head and continued to walk alone in the hallway to his own class.

* * *

It was during free period and Rayna had joined her former friends, Kevin and Betty, in the student lounge for some catching up. Betty had told Rayna all about how she was sorry for growing apart from each other and how she wanted to fix their relationship. Rayna, never being one for saying no to mending a relationship, of course accepted her apology and her offer to spend free period with her.

As they sat in the couches, Betty and Kevin told Rayna about everything she had missed. From how Betty had finally grown the courage to tell Archie how she felt, to how Veronica had walked into the mix. They also told her about the dance and how Moose and Kevin had been the ones to find Jason; something Rayna was confused about, since she never thought Kevin would voluntarily spend time with one of the jocks.

Betty also told Rayna about how Veronica and Archie had gone into the closet together during 'Seven Minutes in Heaven', which had pretty much broken her heart.

Rayna had had enough of the drama and confusion, so in the middle of Betty's sentence, she interrupted. "Wait. Who's Veronica?"

Yeah, she was never one to remember names.

"The new girl," Kevin answered her. "Dark hair, flawless skin, expensive pearls."

"The one that kissed you?" Rayna asked Betty, who's eyes widened while she began to blush.

Kevin, clearly not heard of it before, looked at their blonde friend with his eyes as wide and eyebrows raised high. "Wait, what?"

Betty was going to explain, mostly to Kevin's benefit and tell him she had basically forgotten about the incident (she hadn't), and that it was just a heat of the moment thing that meant nothing (she wasn't so sure about that), but she didn't get the chance.

"Good morning, students," the voice of the school's principal boomed over the speakers all over the school. "This is your principal speaking. There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally. So let me state clearly, it is happening, as scheduled. Now, on a less felicitous note, if you could give your attention to Sheriff Keller."

Rayna glanced at Kevin with her eyebrows furrowed at the mention of his father. He met her gaze with a similar one.

Shuffling was heard over the speakers, before the Sheriff's voice came through. "Most of you already know the details, but your classmate Jason Blossom's body was found late Saturday night."

In the school's bathroom, Josie, Valerie and Melody looked up from their reflections in the mirror and stared at the nearest speaker to listen to the Sheriff's words.

"So as of the weekend-"

The jocks, Chuck, Reggie and Moose, also stopped what they were doing in the locker room as they too listened about their fallen teammate.

"-Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide. It is and open and ongoing investigation."

Geraldine Grundy stopped playing her cello and listened to the words spoken all over school.

More shuffling was heard over the speakers before a more obnoxious voice came through the whole school.

"And may I interject," Cheryl Blossom said as she took over. "Neither I, nor my parents, will rest until Jason's death is avenged, and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in Old Sparky and fry. I, for one, have my suspicions. #RiverdaleStrong."

"She really likes to make everything about herself," Rayna commented to her friends, which they lightly smiled at before they all turned serious again at the sound of the Sheriff's voice coming back.

"If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Jason's killer, or anything about what happened to him on July 4th, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately. You can speak with me or Principal Weatherbee. A death like this wounds us all. Let's not let Jason down."

In a complete different part of the school, Archie was pacing around nervously after the announcement. He needed to tell someone. Someone just had to know about what he had heard that morning. He couldn't take it anymore.

As Archie was struggling with his inner drama, Jughead was struggling with his decreasing trust for his former best friend. He had acted weird, strange, ever since the summer. He needed to know why. And now that a kid was dead, he needed to know even more.

Finding the redhead in the middle of the hall drinking from the water fountain, Jughead stopped a few feet behind him. "Archie," he said. The ginger slowly turned at his voice and he looked at him with a hint of nervousness. Jughead glared at him suspiciously. "Weirdest thing. This summer, you, me and Ray were supposed to go on a road trip over July 4th weekend… Which you bailed on at the last minute." Jughead noticed how Archie gulped nervously at the mention of that weekend and tried to avoid eye contact with the raven haired boy. Jughead crossed his arms at him. "Is there something you wanna tell me, pal?"

* * *

Rayna had successfully been able to find her best friend in the hallways. Although, he seemed more pissed than usual and Rayna had no idea why. He said something vaguely that he had talked to Archie, but he didn't go into detail, making the dark haired girl frown at him, but she let it go as they walked towards their next class, being Biology.

They settled in class, almost right in the front. They started talking to each other as everyone in the room waited for the teacher to show up. Jughead said another one of his little references and Rayna lightly laughed at him.

In the middle of their conversation, the door opened in front of them and Archie walked in. The redhead passed their table and he watched Jughead nervously, as the other guy glared back at him.

Rayna looked at the two oddly before she turned to her friend after the ginger was out of reach. "What was that about?"

Jug shrugged at her while he stayed silent and started reading in the book of Biology he had on their desk. Rayna frowned at him but ignored his weird behaviour as their teachers walked in through the backdoor of the classroom.

"Seats everyone," he announced as he rounded a few desks and made his way towards the front of the class. "Pair off, gloves on, scalpels up," he instructed.

"Can I be with Cheryl?" Archie asked, much to Rayna's surprise.

"And I wanna be with Betty," Veronica proclaimed proudly with a smile.

Betty, however, did not smile as she looked wide eyed at the raven haired girl. "Oh, uh, I was thinking I'd partner with Kevin."

"Actually, uh," Moose said as he stopped by Betty's and Kevin's desk. "Keller's with me," he stated, and mostly everyone stared at him oddly. At their gazes he just shrugged. "We, like, talked," he said and moved away to another table.

Kevin turned to Betty with his eyes wide. "Oh, god," he said before he quickly stood up to follow the jock.

Rayna, who had watched the whole thing, turned to Jughead, only to see him wearing the same confused look as her as he too watched on. "Do you know what's happening?" Rayna asked her best friend.

"No idea."

"Jackson!" the teacher called from in front of the class. The two best friends quickly turned to him simultaneously, only to see that he had an amused look on his face as he looked at them. "Partner?" he questioned.

"Oh, I'm with Jug," Rayna answered him proudly as she smiled, while Jughead just rolled his eyes beside her.

"No shock there," the teacher said, making a few giggle, before he went back to address the class. "Okay, everyone. You may begin."

Jughead put his plastic gloves on and Rayna followed suit. She smiled brightly at him, making him scoff, before he picked up the scalpel on her side and looked down at the pinned down frog with a frown.

"Poor froggie," she said quietly as she gently poked its stomach with her scalpel, not daring to poke it too hard to make it bleed.

"Seriously?" Jughead asked his best friend as he looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed. "That's what you're thinking right now?"

Rayna rolled her eyes and looked at him. "Well, it's either that or food. And if I think about food while dissecting this little guy, I may never eat another fry again," she said sadly as she shook her head lightly and looked back down at the frog.

"Good," Jughead said with a ghost of a smile on his face. "Then you actually might stop stealing mine," he joked and took the pinned frog away from Rayna, ready to work on it.

"Oh, ha, ha," rayna breathed out in the most sarcastic way she could. "Very funny, Jones."

Jughead gave her a small smirk before he slowly began to cut up the frog's stomach. Rayna was glad that the frog was already dead, and that they didn't have to torture the poor thing.

Jughead did an excellent job. He was practically a natural. The cut he made from where the legs met up to the frog's throat was so precise, so perfect, that Rayna was almost silenced because of how impressed she was. The beanie wearing boy gently opened up the cut with two pincers, that he offered Rayna to hold, before he started to take out its organs slowly and precise.

Just as they had gotten the heart out, they caught the last of Cheryl's and Archie's conversation from right behind them.

"In fact," they heard Cheryl's voice before they heard something slam down on their table. Jughead and Rayna turned to them, along with the rest of the class. They all saw the same thing. That Cheryl had stabbed the frog with her scalpel, while watching her two wannabe's with a glare. "I'm amazing," she said before she violently ripped open the little frogs body with the scalpel buried in its throat.

Rayna cringed and looked away with her eyes wide. "That bitch is crazy," she whispered, knowing that Jughead was listening.

* * *

After class, Jughead had dragged his best friend out as quickly as possible, something he always did. That way he knew that nobody would stop them to try and strike up a conversation, which he didn't want to waste time with, and he knew that Rayna felt the same.

As the two walked side by side in the empty hallway, Rayna glanced at Jughead who was struggling to get his laptop into his bag. She scoffed before she stepped towards him and helped by holding the bag open for him to press down his computer.

"You still haven't let me read it," Rayna commented as Jughead pushed the last inch of the laptop into the bag.

"That's because the first chapter isn't done yet."

"Who cares?" Rayna questioned as Jughead zipped his bag closed and swung it over his shoulder. "I wanna read it."

Jughead sighed as they continued to walk. "You can read it tonight," he finally agreed after a moment of silence.

Rayna turned to her best friend with a vibrant beam. "Good," she nodded before they focused on walking out of the school building. "So, any thoughts of what we should do tonight?" she asked him while stealing a glance his way.

Jughead glanced back before he looked forward and shrugged. "Movie at the drive-in?"

"And risk being seen by the Serpents?" Rayna scoffed. "Not really."

Jughead frowned, not because how she had talked about the people his own father was involved with, but because he knew what the Serpents were all responsible of when it came to Rayna and her family. He knew he shouldn't had mentioned it, the gang, but it was inevitable.

"Look, I know what you think of them-"

"Don't worry, Jug," she interrupted. "It's fine. We can just watch a movie at my place, without the disturbance of bikers," she said and linked her arm together with his.

Jughead sighed as he kept looking forward. "Yeah, you're right."

Rayna, noticing her best friend's sudden change of mood, stopped walking and pulled him to a stop as well. "Hey, I'm sorry," she said, knowing how his father was now a part of the gang and that she had practically talked ill of him. "I didn't mean to-"

"I know," he stopped her and put a hand on her shoulder to make her quit blabbering. "It's fine. Really."

"Good," Rayna smiled at him brightly and linked their arms together again. "Then let's go," she declared and began walking.

Jughead lightly smiled as he walked beside his best friend. This was where he belonged. Not at home with his father. Not at the drive-in. Not anywhere, but here, beside Rayna. That's where he truly felt wanted, where he felt like he wasn't just another brick in the wall. Rayna was the only one that could make him feel like anything else but the broody teen he truly was. She could make him smile like no other. She could even make him laugh, which wasn't an easy task. There was just something special about Rayna Jackson…

His thoughts of his best friend was interrupted however, by an odd sight in one of the classrooms. He stopped to look at it and saw that it was the music room. "Hold on," he told Rayna, who stopped a few feet in front of him.

Jughead stepped towards the door to take a better look. Rayna, now intrigued by her best friend, also got closer so she was practically leaning on Jughead to get a better look.

What they saw, was something that couldn't be unseen.

Archie Andrews

with Geraldine Grundy.

Aka the music teacher.

Rayna's eyes widened, along with Jughead's. She was ready to scream for her friend to stop, whatever the hell he was doing, with the woman in the room. "Wha-"

Before she got the chance though, Jughead put a hand over her mouth and started to drag her away from the door. She, of course, fought the whole way out.

"Ssh," Jughead whispered in her ear as he kept walking, making Rayna relax a bit and stop fighting.

Jughead didn't let go of her though. Not until they made it outside of the building and by the side of it so no uninvited prying eyes or ears would find them. He retreated his arms away from her. Rayna turned around immediately to face her best friend.

"Holy shi-" she began and tugged at her hair in frustration. "What the hell was that?" she questioned.

Jughead frowned. "I think Archie's got some serious explaining to do."

Rayna noticed something on her best friend. Something that she hadn't seen in quite a while. He had that interested, yet annoyed twinkle in his eyes, which Rayna knew could only mean one thing.

"Jug," she begged. "Please don't do anything stupid."

"I gotta go," he said quickly and turned without another word. He didn't even look at her, knowing that he might change his determined mind if he even caught a glance of her pleading puppy look. He had fell for it way too many times.

"Wait!" Rayna yelled, but he was already far onto the parking lot for her to be able to grab and stop him. Noticing this, she kicked a nearby stone right onto a car closeby, which happened to be a blue Volkswagen. "Dammit…"

* * *

Archie had had a pretty good day in a long time. He had talked to Grundy, and sure he didn't get what he wanted from her (which was the permission to come clean about fourth of July), but he felt good either way. Especially after walking Veronica home from the diner, and so getting to know her better, and she getting to know him.

His good mood however faltered a bit when he turned to the curb leading up to his house, seeing his former best friend sitting on the porch steps.

Jughead Jones.

"Jug," Archie greeted, confused of why the raven haired boy was by his house by this hour. "What's up?"

"What's up is I saw you, Archie," Jughead began saying as he got up from his sitting position, walking down the steps so he now stood in front of the ginger. "In the music room. With Miss Grundy-"

"Keep your voice down, my dad's inside," Archie warned with his eyes wide and arm pointed towards the house.

Jughead furrowed his eyebrows and frowned at the guy. "I'm trying to help you, dude," he said. "I'm trying to be your friend here. Even though we're not anymore," he hissed at Archie, and the ginger looked away in slight shame. "How long?" Jughead asked. "You and Grundy?"

"Since this summer," Archie admitted and looked back up at the beanie wearing boy. "I like her."

Jughead scoffed at his confession. "So I'm guessing she's the reason you've been acting weird since summer?"

"One of them."

"'One of them'?!" Jughead almost exclaimed with his eyebrows raised and his features irritated. "There's more?"

Archie swallowed down his nervousness and gathered up the courage to tell Jughead. He figured that if he couldn't tell the Sheriff, or the Principal, he could probably tell Jug, even though it was sure to come back to bite him in the ass. "We were at Sweetwater River on July fourth," he confessed, and he saw how Jughead's shoulders and jaw slacked by the discovery. "We heard a gunshot- The gunshot."

"Dude, you have to tell somebody," Jughead told him slowly, still surprised of what the ginger had just told him.

"I can't," Archie said and stepped forward, coming face to face with Jughead. "Neither can you," he almost warned. "Okay, not even Rayna. If people find out about Grundy-"

"A kid is dead, Archie!" Jughead exclaimed at the boy in irritation, almost anger. "And you're worried about some- some cougar?"

"Don't call her that. Okay, she's not like that, she cares about me," Archie argued with Jughead's comment, but he couldn't help but to feel insecure of what he was saying, like it wasn't as true as he thought it was.

"Stab in the dark," Jughead said, closely watching Archie's reaction. "I'm guessing she cares more about herself," he spat out. Archie, not wanting to hear it, just swallowed down his anger and looked away from Jughead's burning glare. "She's the one who's telling you not to say anything, right?" He, of course, hit the nail on the head. Jughead shook his head slightly, knowing that he was right and that Archie was just denying it. "Look, I saw you guys. She's messing with you, man. And she's messing with your mind-"

"What the hell do you know about it, Jughead?!" Archie eventually snapped, making Jughead draw his head back a bit to avoid the spit that was coming out of the redhead's mouth. "Or about me, even?"

Again, Jughead shook his head and looked to the ground a bit, before he looked back and met Archie's brown eyes. "Nothing," he said. "But I used to know this guy once. Archie Andrews. He wasn't perfect, but-" he sighed "-he always tried to do the right thing, at least," he grumbled and began moving away so he could walk back to Rayna's place.

Archie, however, didn't want him to leave just yet, knowing he had to prevent the novelist from doing something that could get Archie or Grundy into trouble. "Jug," he said as he grabbed his arm, stopping the guy from walking further. Archie sighed as Jughead looked back at him. "If you tell anyone about this-"

"What?" Jughead spat, pinning Archie with his irritated glare that blazed with the anger he held inside him. "What are you gonna go?" he questioned, knowing that there wasn't much someone could threaten Jughead Jones with.

Archie knew him well though. He knew what Jughead's fears was. He knew exactly how to get him to shut up.

"I'll tell Rayna."

Jughead scoffed and shrugged his arm away from the ginger's grip. "Rayna already knows about you two," he said, knowing that wasn't exactly what Archie meant, but figured he could weasel his way out. "She saw you too, you know."

"You know that's not what I meant," Archie said, suddenly more serious and quiet as ever.

Jughead looked away as he dragged a hand over his face. "You wouldn't," he said, meeting Archie's gaze once again. His eyes narrowed as he took a threatening step towards him again. "Archie-"

"Hey, Jug," Fred Andrews interrupted the raven haired boy as he opened the front door of the house. The two teenagers turned to look at him, acting as innocent as they could. "Coming in? We got take-out from Pop's."

"He was just leaving," Archie coldly stated to his father, but had his gaze set on the other teenager.

Jughead scoffed again, shook his head, and began walking off to the streets, finding his way towards the Jackson household.

* * *

After Jughead had basically ditched her, Rayna had gone home to her little two story house that was situated in between the good and bad parts of town. She didn't care where she lived though. Since her brother was a cop, nobody had the guts to do something to their house or rob it or break in. Rayna was pretty happy with that.

So there she was in her room, drawing in one of her textbooks (because he sketch and notebook was already full) and listening to some of her favorite music through her large speakers. That was usually how she spent her time whenever she wasn't at school or out with Jughead. She liked being alone, to some extent. Nobody likes being lonely, but Rayna could truly see the beauty of being alone.

As she flipped over from having been sitting on her bed with the textbook in her lap, to lay down on her stomach to instead have the book beneath her, she heard a faint knock on her bedroom window. She stopped what she was doing and looked towards the only lone window in her room and sighed.

It was Jughead.

Of course it was Jughead. He's the only one of her friends that didn't know how to use the door.

Rayna, being the good friend she was, got up from her comfortable position on the bed and walked up to the window. She opened it for her best friend, but did not say anything. Instead she just turned her back towards him as he climbed in.

"You're stupid, you know that?" Rayna asked him without looking his way.

Jughead closed the window after him and frowned at his best friend. "You're mad."

"Hell yeah, I'm mad!" Rayna hissed as she turned back to face him and point an accusing finger at him. She watched as Jughead took a step back with his hands up in mock surrender. "You, you incompetent, quiet, little beanie wearing snake, skip our movie night to go out and scold on Archie. Not cool, man," she said and threw her arms up in the air, as if she was done with everything at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Jughead told her. "But I had to."

"Whatever," Rayna sighed and sat back down on her bed, slightly hiding her sketchbook under her covers from Jughead's prying eyes. "What'd he say?" she asked him.

Jughead sat down next to her, nudging her knee with his. "He said she's the reason he skipped on our road trip," he said as he glanced at his best friend beside him.

"Seriously?" Rayna frowned. "God… I mean, I kinda didn't like her that much already, but that's just cruel," she said. "She's basically trying to control Archie's life and decisions. What the hell?"

"Yeah…" Jughead sighed. "They were also at Sweetwater on the fourth."

Rayna stared at him for awhile, being awfully, and oddly quiet as she just looked at her best friend. Jughead knew that her imagined cogwheels were turning in her head as she had that calculated, yet confused, look on her.

"What…?" she said so slowly, so quietly, that Jughead almost didn't hear it.

He kept talking though, not knowing how to fully take Rayna's reaction. "They heard a gunshot," he said. "And Grundy wants to hold the whole thing secret."

"Holy crap!" Rayna said as she quickly stood up from the bed, Jughead's eyes following her every move with his brows furrowed. "That's huge!"

"I know."

Rayna groaned as she swayed over to her desk and leaned against it. "I can't sit inside with this on my mind," she mumbled. She looked up quickly to Jughead, making him believe she almost got whiplash from how fast her head just moved. "Let's go out."

Jughead scoffed, thinking that the girl was joking, or that she had simply gone insane. But when he saw how serious she was with her statement, he sobered up. "Where?" he asked her.

Rayna shrugged. "Somewhere. Anywhere. Jer won't mind," she added. "He's working late anyway. The station is going crazy after they found Jason."

"Alright," Jughead agreed as he stood up from her bed and patted away imaginary dust from his pants before he pocketed his hands. "Let's go," he said, already having a place on his mind.

* * *

Jughead had taken the lead on where the two should go for their night out. First he thought of the drive-in, but then he remembered what Rayna had told him earlier that day of not wanting to risk being seen by the Serpents. She wasn't in deep with them or anything, she didn't even owe them anything. She just had some history with them, something that Jughead of course could understand.

Then he thought of going to the diner, their favorite place to hang out in, but he didn't lead them there. He wanted it to be special in a way. Not that Rayna would care where they would go, but Jughead somehow did. He didn't know why. Every minute he spent with Rayna was in a way special. So he couldn't quite understand when his own mind told him to make the night, that was as platonic as every other night, more special than most.

So he took her to his former treehouse. One that was on the verge of falling apart in the backyard of his father's house. The two had so many memories of the place, so he figured this was as special as it can get.

"I've missed this place," Rayna mumbled in awe as she set foot inside the almost rotten playhouse. Jughead entered from the floor right behind her. "So many memories."

"I'm surprised it's still standing," Jughead commented as he closed the trapdoor beneath him.

"Yeah. You'd think it'd be molded into dirt by now." Just as she had said it, Jughead nearly stumbled over a plank that had been loose for ages. Rayna giggled as her best friend composed himself once again after regaining balance. "I remember you stumble over that and nearly broke your nose from the fall," she said quietly as she smiled.

Jughead smiled as well. "You were crying from how frantic you were that I might've been hurt," he said, remembering just as well as she did.

"How could I not?" Rayna snorted. "I didn't want my friend to have a crooked nose for the rest of his life."

"But you fixed it," Jughead smirked.

Rayna blushed but tried to hide her face in her short hair. "That I did," she smiled.

"And that's the story of how you found out that you wanted to be a nurse."

Rayna laughed at that and leaned against one of the small tabled in the little house. "It sometimes scares me how well you know me," she smirked at Jughead.

"Same goes for you," he mumbled back at her.

Rayna laughed softly and looked down at her shoes, something that made Jughead softly smile at her, though she wouldn't notice. As the dark haired girl looked down she caught a glimpse of something that was standing on the table she was leaning against. It was a picture. Rayna glanced at Jughead before she picked the framed picture up and looked at it.

"I remember this…" she said as she watched the three kids in the picture, along with the huge dark haired male.

Two of the kids, one of them wearing an odd looking beanie and the other having short dark hair, were playing with each other and play wrestling, while the other one, who had dark red hair and a pretend frown on her face, was looking on, and the grown up was laughing while trying to break the two wrestling kids apart. Rayna immediately recognizing them as her and Jughead as the fighting kids, Rayna's older sister Roxy as the frowning kid, and her father trying not to laugh too hard.

Rayna looked up at Jughead again with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "You kept the picture?" she questioned him with a small voice.

"Well…" Jughead began as he scratched the back of his neck. "After everything that happened, I figured it was the least I could do," he admitted with a light shrug.

Rayna, without any hesitation whatsoever, put the picture back and stood up to attack her best friend in a huge hug. Jughead froze at the contact, since the two rarely ever hugged, only if the other was really upset. But they had never, as far as he knew, hugged like this. Hugged with so much emotion. He just couldn't help but to hug her back just as tightly as she hugged him.

"You're the best guy anyone could ask for…" Rayna mumbled into his shoulder.

Jughead couldn't help but to smile. Not only was Rayna happy to have him in her life, but she didn't say that word that kinda stabbed at his heart a bit every time she said it. Friend. Of course they were friends. They were best friends. But, somehow that word kind of hurt him, especially in such emotional situations as this. So he couldn't help but to be happy that she hadn't said that awful, yet delightful word at this very moment.

Rayna pulled back from him, having felt like the moment had passed. But when she did, her eyes met his and they both froze. She still had her arms around his neck, and he had his around her waist. They were both silent as they just watched each other intensely. There was something there. Something that both infuriated and interested them both.

Feeling a bit awkward at the exchange after a while, Jughead cleared his throat. Rayna caught up quickly and pulled away completely from him while he did the same, keeping some distance between them.

"You should probably get home," Jughead broke the silence by saying.

Rayna coughed and nodded. "Yeah…" she agreed and began to move towards the trapdoor. Just before she was going to crouch down to open it, she turned to look at her best friend. "You wanna stay over?" she asked.

Jughead shook his head lightly. "Nah. I'll be fine," he said.

"You sure?" Rayna checked. "You know you're always welcome whenever you feel like," she said.

"Yeah, I know," Jughead nodded. "It's fine though. I'll manage."

Rayna nodded as well. "Okay," she said and turned back to the door. "Let's go."

And so, by ignoring what they both had just felt at that very sensitive and tender moment, they left the treehouse that meant so much to them for a very long time.

* * *

"And Sheriff Keller's grilling me, Mantle the Magnificent. 'Cause I'd want Blossom dead, when he was, like, the only good quarterback we had," Reggie Mantle rambled on.

Most of the sophomore were in the student lounge, sitting about and talking amongst themselves. Except for Reggie, who looked like he was only talking to some, but he was essentially talking to all of them. Veronica was sitting with Chuck, another stereotypical jock in the football team. Betty and Kevin was sitting by one of the tables trying to study. Rayna and Jughead was sitting on a table next to the vending machine, silently talking to each other.

"And speaking of offensive tight-ends," Reggie continued as he turned towards Moose. "I should've sent the cops to you, Moose. Because here's another unsolved mystery. What exactly were you and Kevin doing at the river, huh?" he ask with his eyebrow raised in question, while he had a bit of a knowing smile on his face. "Or does being with the sheriff's son give you a free pass? Keller?" he asked, turning towards Kevin who was glaring at Reggie.

"Reggie's just being a blowhard, Kev," Betty assured her friend, seeing his glare towards the jock by the couches.

"I don't care what he says," Kevin shrugged it off and went back to try and study, although it was close to impossible with Reggie shouting about in the room.

"I mean, let's think about it. If a kid at Riverdale killed Jason, it's not gonna be a jock, right?" he asked. Rayna rolled her eyes at his faux investigating look he had on. "Now, let's be honest. Isn't it always some spooky, scrawny, pathetic Internet troll, too busy writing manifestos to get laid? Some smug, moody, serial killer fanboy freak? Like… Jughead?" he asked, looking at the beanie wearing guy who stood with his arms crossed next to a scowling, self proclaimed emo girl. Reggie laughed as the two looked at him with a glare. "What was it like, Suicide Squad?" he asked Jughead. "When you shot Jason? You didn't do stuff to the body, did you? Like… after?"

"It's called necrophilia, Reggie," Rayna hissed at the jock.

"Can you spell it?" Jughead sassed with his eyebrows high, making his best friend burst out laughing.

As Reggie heard the laugh coming from Rayna, he charged towards the two, making the girl stand up in a defensive way. "Come here you little-" Reggie began as he almost reached Jughead's neck, but Archie interrupted him by coming in between the two.

"Hey, shut the hell up, Reggie," Archie warned his fellow jock.

Rayna came to stand beside them, flickering her eyes between all three. "Boys," she warned. "Back it up," she said as she pushed them both away from each other.

"What do you care, Andrews?" Reggie asked, completely ignoring the girl and her pushing arm.

Archie shook his head. "Nothing. Just leave him alone."

Reggie's face lit up like a christmas tree, as if he just came to realize something. "Holy crap," he breathed out as he pushed Rayna's arm away from him, leaning a bit towards Archie. "Did you and Donnie Darko kill him together? Was it some sort of pervy, blood brother thing?" he mocked with a teasing smile. He them smirked towards Rayna. "I bet little psycho Ray here was in on it too."

"I prefer creative over psychotic, Mantle," Rayna smirked back at him.

Archie took another step forward and clocked Rayna away from Reggie's sight. "Leave her out of this," he said.

"Or what?" Reggie challenged.

Next thing you knew, Archie started punching Reggie. Most people in the room stood up in shock, while others (the jocks) stood up to join in on the fight. Reggie stood straight and punched Archie back, making the ginger fall down to the floor, but he quickly regained balance and tried to tackle the tall jock. The two wrestled for dominance.

Jughead finally cut in and tried to get Reggie off of Archie, but out of nowhere Moose appeared and pulls the novelist away, making the two of them fight as well.

As Rayna watched Reggie lay the last punch on Archie which had him down on the floor, she groaned and marched up to her best friend to help him out. She tapped Moose on the shoulder. The jock turned to see her. As their eyes met, Rayna smirked before she punched him right on the nose. It was on the verge of breaking as the football player fell to the floor, holding his aching nose. Rayna rolled her eyes at the guy before she grabbed Jughead's arm and left the room with him.

They sped walked through the hallway, Jughead holding his nose as it had began to bleed from the fight with Moose. Rayna pulled him to a stop by her locker and turned to watch him intensely. She grabbed his face and pulled it up, looking at his nose. She sighed before she opened her locker and pulled out a tissue, offering it to Jughead. He took it and nodded before he started wiping his nose.

"You okay?" Rayna asked him, breaking the long silence between them.

Jughead sighed as he wiped the last remaining drop of blood. "Reggie's just being an ass," he said, throwing the tissue away.

"No surprise there…" Rayna mumbled as she took another tissue out of her locker. She grabbed Jughead's face again, making him look at her with major confusion. She looked at his nose with her own nose wrinkled in concentration. Rayna shook her head before she let go of his face to pick up her bag. "C'mon," she said as she closed her locker. "Let's get out of here."

She began marching away with angry steps, something everyone present noticed. Jughead sighed before he caught up with her and put his arm around her shoulder. He knew it would calm her down, knowing that he was completely fine after the fight. Rayna visibly relaxed as she smiled up at him and put her head up on his shoulder as they left the building.

* * *

"Why are we here, again?" Jughead asked his best friend.

Rayna had dragged him to her house after the fight in the student lounge. There she had fixed him up, so he was no longer in pain and not bloody anymore. After that she took him to her truck and drove them back to the school, and to the football field.

"We, my friend, are here," she said as she put her elbow up on his shoulder, "because we are going to cheer on our beloved friend Archie, even though he's been a stupid punk lately," she explained with a smile thrown his way.

Jughead looked down at her with a questionable gaze. "Is this really a good idea?" he asked her.

Rayna rolled her eyes. "He needs it. Look," she said as she pointed towards where Archie stood.

Jughead looked over and saw their redheaded friend standing by the field, talking to Miss Grundy. Jughead raised an eyebrow at Rayna, which she smiled and shrugged at before they both turned their attentions back to Archie as he was making his way towards them.

"Girl trouble?" Jughead asked the ginger as he grew closer to the two friends. "You?"

"Grundy and me. We're telling Weatherbee," Archie announced as he came to a stop, surprising the other two. "At least, I am. And also, I didn't mean all that crap I said to you," he directed towards Jughead, who nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's cool."

Rayna looked between Jughead and Archie with a knowing looked before she giggled. "You guys are literally breaking my heart," she said, making the two look at her with their eyebrows furrowed. She smiled and put her arms around their shoulders as she stood between them. "The bromance is back," she announced.

Jughead rolled his eyes and looked at her. "Shut up, Ray," he mumbled. He looked at Archie then, seeing the knowing look he had on his face. Jughead snorted. "We're not gonna hug in front of this whole town," he said, making all three of them laugh together, just like old times. "So why don't we both just do that bro thing where we nod like douches and mutually suppress our emotions?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," Archie nodded with a smile. "But as friends, right?"

Jughead looked like he thought about it before he gave a nod. "To be discussed, over many burgers, and many days," he said and they both smiled at each other.

Rayna smiled as well as she looked between the two boys. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said. "Now, let's go get a better seat," she said as she grabbed Jughead's arm and began walking towards the bleachers, leaving a smiling Archie in their wake.

"But it's raining," Jughead complained as he looked up at the sky.

"A little rain never hurt nobody," Rayna sassed his way. She looked back to see Archie staying put with the same smile on his face. She smiled back. "Good luck out there, Andrews," she called to him. He nodded back and waved before he went to get ready for the game.

Just as the two had taken a place on the highest benches on the bleacher, they heard the principal of their school speak into the microphone. "Now to kickoff this pep rally, I'd like to hand it over to our very own Mayor McCoy." Everybody applauded, including the two uncaring best friends.

Jughead and Rayna looked over to see the mayor lean into the microphone. "Thank you, Principal Weatherbee. It is heartening to see so many of you here, even in weather like this. But a lack of heart and school spirit has never been the Riverdale way. Tonight's pep rally isn't like any other we've had in the past. And we shouldn't pretend that it is. Which is why I would like to dedicate this evening to the memory of one of our brightest. Jason Blossom. We're with him tonight." Most people grew quiet over the mentioning of the town's fallen golden boy. It was again broken by the mayor's speaking. "Now please, join me in welcoming to the field our very own River Vixens, and their special guest stars, my daughter, Josie and her Pussycats!"

Everybody, except the outcasts, cheered as the cheerleaders walked onto the field in position, and Josie and her band went up on stage to fix up their performance. Rayna had expected them to sing something a bit calmer, in a way to honour Jason, but boy was she wrong. As soon as the first accord was played by them, Josie began to rap, making Rayna look over to Jughead with wide eyes, only to see him already looking at her with a slight smirk. She nudged him before she went back to see the performance by the bands (the school's marching band joined in somewhere in the middle of it) and cheerleaders.

As Josie and the Pussycats came into the second chorus, Cheryl miraculously turned up on stage and sang along, magically already knowing the lyrics.

"Is this some famous song?" Rayna asked Jughead. "Because I've never heard it before, but Cheryl seems to know every word of it," she commented.

Jughead scoffed. "Cheryl and Josie are friends, remember? She's probably heard them prep."

Rayna narrowed her eyes as she continued to look at the stage. "Still suspicious…" she muttered.

Jughead chuckled and put an arm around her shoulder as they continued to listen to the song until it's very end. Once it was done everybody was cheering, Rayna and Jughead actually joined in on the applauds this time, before the coach walked up on stage.

"All right, you all ready?" he asked through the speakers, earning another cheer from the audience. He smiled as he looked over the students and others that had came to watch the game. "Let's make some noise! Put your hands together for the Riverdale Bulldogs!"

The whole football team ran out on the field with Archie at the front as people continued to cheer. The redhead smiled over at everyone who cheered and laughed at how wonderful he felt as he ran to his position.

Not everybody was as happy as he was, apparently, since Cheryl somehow panicked and began to ran off stage towards the locker rooms with incredible speed.

"Man, she runs fast," Rayna commented as she watched the girl sprint away. Her best friend smacked her leg, which made her jump in both fright and slight pain. "Ow! What?" she asked him, earning a playful glare from the beanie boy.

* * *

After the game Archie had suggested to his two friends that they should begin the forgiveness right away and that he would buy them both burgers to make amends, just as Jughead had suggested. Since Rayna had brought her pickup with her, they all climbed in and drove over to Pop's to eat.

Just as Rayna had parked, they all climbed out, Jughead and Rayna from one side while Archie climbed out of the other side.

Rayna, continuing on the conversation the three had had in the car, chuckled as she closed the door. "Well, you're making out to be a pretty good jock, Arch," she said as she and Jughead circled around and came to walk beside the redhead.

"Thanks, Rayna," Archie chuckled back to her. Rayna smirked and linked her arms with the boys', since they were walking on either side of her.

"How about that burger now?" Jughead asked as they walked, making the other two chuckle and walk inside the diner.

Just as they walked in they noticed that a familiar raven haired girl and an even more familiar blonde was sitting in one of the booths. Betty turned as she heard the bell ring above the door and smiled at the 'golden trio' that had walked in.

"Do you guys want to join us?" she asked them.

Rayna walked forward, letting the boys' arms go as she made it closer to the booth with a smile. "Absolutely," she said as she began climbing over the seat Veronica was sitting in.

"But only if you're treating," Jughead added as he walked towards the booth as well, Archie close behind him.

Rayna successfully climbed over the seat and propped down by the window next to Veronica, who she had yet to meet in person.

Veronica, also realizing that she had never quite met the two that had walked in with Archie, turned towards Rayna with a smile and her hand out in greeting. "Veronica Lodge," she introduced.

Rayna grabbed her hand and gave it a small shake. "Rayna Jackson."

"Jughead, Jones," Jughead greeted as well as he climbed the same way Rayna had to plop down between her and Veronica.

"Don't forget the third," Rayna added with a smirk.

Jughead gave her a nod and pointed his finger at her. "Right," he smirked back.

Veronica watched them with her eyebrows furrowed. "Jughead Jones the Third?" she questioned.

"Before you ask, yes, you heard right," Rayna chuckled as Jughead put his arm on the headrest of the seat, making his hand lightly rest on Rayna's shoulder.

The other three began to chuckle by her comment and they all smiled. Archie ordered three burgers as Rayna ordered some fries and a milkshake she was planning on sharing with Jughead, something they had done since she was twelve and he eleven.

As their food came to their table, they all began conversing. They all couldn't help but to feel like they were grateful for the others as they sat there in their little booth. Something Jughead noted that he would write in his novel.

* * *

 _To someone on the outside, peering in, it would've looked like there were five people in that booth. But I was there, and I can tell you. Really, there were only four._

 _A blonde girl, a raven-haired girl, the luckiest red-headed boy in tin universe, and the happiest little goth chick._

 _For one shining moment, we were just kids._

 _Those bright neon lights of Pop's keeping the darkness at bay. Giving way, as all nights must, to a morning of reckonings._

* * *

The next day had come and everybody was once again sitting in biology. As usual, Jughead and Rayna sat together and silently conversed with each other as they paid no attention to their teacher explaining something on the board.

However, their attention was soon stolen as the sheriff, Jeremy, and the principal all walked into the classroom with so much purpose it made Rayna shiver. Everybody was just staring at the three while all keeping silent.

"What's going on?" Rayna silently whispered to her best friend, earning a small confused shrug.

Suddenly they saw Cheryl standing up from her seat in front of them. "You're here for me, aren't you?" she asked, making everyone present even more confused. "Because of the autopsy?"

"We don't have to take it in here, Miss Blossom," Jeremy calmly said as he stood behind the sheriff.

"We don't need to do this in front of your classmates, Cheryl," Weatherbee added.

"It's alright, Principal Weatherbee. They'll find out soon enough," Cheryl said with so much guilt evident in her eyes.

"Now, that won't be necessary."

"Wait, Cheryl, find out what?" Veronica asked from the desk besides Cheryl's. Everyone waited with bated breath as they all watched Cheryl as she once again had stolen everyone's attention.

"That I'm guilty."

Rayna quickly spun around and looked at Jughead with wide eyes, only to see him watching Cheryl with a similar expression, already making up theories what the redhead might mean by that.

* * *

 _As shocking as those three words were, they were nothing compared to the secrets that Jason's body had given up during its autopsy. That Jason didn't die on July 4th, as we believed, but over a week later._

* * *

 _ **Goddamn what a long chapter! Went on for days to write this.**_

 _ **Still don't know if I'm gonna make Bughead happen in this fic or not, to stir things up between the characters, mheeheheh.**_

 _ **Thank you for the reviews: Guest (Alex), noordinarykilljoy, and Guest**_

 _ **It is always appreciated!**_


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